<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>In A Heat Haze by Lupo (LupoLight)</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22459798">In A Heat Haze</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LupoLight/pseuds/Lupo'>Lupo (LupoLight)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Androids and Idiots [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst with a Happy Ending, Gavin Reed Whump, Groundhog Day, He's not a deviant at first, Hurt Gavin Reed, It's me I can't /not/ write a happy ending, M/M, Pre-Deviant RK900, Seriously Gavin is gonna die A LOT, Suffering, Upgraded Connor | RK900 Is Bad at Feelings, heat haze au</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 06:00:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>13,580</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22459798</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LupoLight/pseuds/Lupo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Heat Haze Days/Kagerou Project AU<br/>--------------------<br/>RK900 is not a deviant. He does not care if his partner lives or die. He does not care about learning more about his partner. He does his job and tries to make sure Detective Reed does the same. So when something so illogical happens, how is he supposed to respond around the red firewall that keeps him perfectly in line?</p><p>Why is this happening- and why can't he save him?<br/>---------------------<br/>It follows Heat Haze Days/Kagerou Project but with a happy ending(eventually). Really this is going to hurt, a lot, but there's fluff in it as well. Just something until I get my next longer fic out!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Androids and Idiots [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1423816</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>199</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBXZ7oGu6xU<br/>Check out this song(or any version of it) if you want to have mood music!</p><p>I'm so sorry ahead of time- I just really wanted to beat up Gavin and couldn't find an RP to do so, soooo I wrote it myself! And in Nines point of view to get double suffering! Ahahahah! Don't worry though, this is 4 chapters long and definitely has a happy ending- after I make you all suffer a bit.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Man I really hate the summertime!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin’s loud voice broke him out of his calm, finishing up a download he put off too long.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>==August 15th, 12:34pm: Patch Complete. Stasis required within 24 hours to finalize</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>The temperature is only in the 90s.</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ He looked over to the detective. They just had gotten done chasing down a suspect this morning, their first ‘big’ case, as Reed called it. As a brief interlude before they returned to the precinct, they stopped in a park, resting on a bench. Gavin spotted a small black stray, leading Nines to sit so he could befriend the cat. Now they sat there for twelve minutes and Gavin held the cat, saying the phrase as if it breaking news to the android. It wasn’t, over the last five days of 90 average degree heat, Gavin had said that nine times.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We could return to the precinct.” Out of all the options he had, that seemed the most neutral. The RK900 model looked to the sky, noting the intense shade of blue the nearly cloudless sky offered. Out of the revolution, there were very few androids that remained ‘non-deviant’. It was a rare case, as winter turned to spring, turned to summer, and the changing of seasons brought a changed Detroit, a changed world. However, RK900 was one of these few non-deviant androids. He thought about his existence into this world- a deep underground lab of a seemingly harmless Cyberlife warehouse, disturbed by none other than his predecessor. He was a finished model, abandoned in the evacuation, the first of thousands that were to be made. The production line stopped last minute as the revolution took hold of Detroit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Yeah I guess- I wanna take this fella home, see if I can get him a home.” Connor, and another RK model named ‘Markus’, had tried to introduce the ‘deviancy code’ to the 900, but his systems had firewalls upon firewalls for it. It would require months and months of consistent chipping away and neither android had time for that. So he was left non-deviant, the objective ‘hunt and eliminate’ deviants was neutralized and instead he was working with the DPD. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Gavin stood up, holding the cat in his arms, and the RK900 followed suit, scanning the human as he did. His vitals read normal, slightly elevated from the chase, but fine otherwise. He turned, looking towards the park as his mind starting thinking of what they should do after they get to the detective’s residence. He heard a ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>hey!</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ and the soft sound of paws hitting concrete. Turning around to tell the detective to leave it, as they had to file paperwork anyways, he felt his processors stutter. The sound of a horn cut through the quiet chatter of the lazy afternoon, and RK900 seen the way Detective Reed turned last second.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <b>
    <em>.//Mission Failed: Protect the Detective</em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>
      <br/>
    </em>
  </b>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Looking on from a red wall that suddenly glitched into his vision, for reasons beyond him, the screech of tires and the sound of </span>
  <em>
    <span>impact</span>
  </em>
  <span> hit against it and dulled. His actions were stiff, moving automatically, even as the worried and panicked voice of the driver sounded off from behind him. “Fuck!” He came to the detective’s side, scanning him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ve alerted EMS,” he informed the man, though Gavin’s probability of survival was sitting at 13%.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Won’t… Matter… Phck-” Gavin coughed, and RK900 knelt beside him, programming telling him all the ways he was injured. The red wall was a tint, the whole world the lightly faded in color, though Gavin’s blood stood out against it all.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Detective?” ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Mission Failed</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ kept blinking at him, and he watched as the detective took his last breath. When EMS got there, detective Gavin Reed was announced dead. His video was provided for evidence, and no one chided a machine for not watching a detective 24/7. No one said anything to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>He returned to the precinct, the desk across his empty as he sat down. Despite that, he got back to work, filing the paperwork from the suspect they apprehended and then looking over the accident report. Connor stopped by, and RK900 turned to him. “Hey 900- how… Are you handling everything well?” RK900 scanned Connor, and prompts filed across his vision on how to respond.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m a machine, RK800, I do not need to handle anything. Thank you for your concern, but it is unfounded. I will be going into stasis to finish applying a patch, do you need anything else?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Several times Connor’s mouth opened and closed. But then it snapped shut, and the emotion he expressed set the 900’s sensors off, explaining itself to him. ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>RK800 is sad over the detective’s death.</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ It contradicted with the info he had on their relationship, but it didn’t pertain to him, so he didn’t ask. Connor walked away, and RK900 watched him approach an equally upset Lieutenant Anderson. They both left seven minutes after. No one else stopped by, no one else- RK900 looked to the time. Hours had passed. Running out of things to do, he decided to enter stasis, to finalize the patch.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>.//Stress: 2%</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>==August 15th, 12:24pm: Patch incomplete. Please retry within the next 24 hours and initiate stasis.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>RK900 opened his eyes, and was met with heat and an intense blue sky. Something crackled in his system, knowing he should be in the precinct.</span>
</p><p> </p><p></p><blockquote>
  <p>
    <b>-^^System Instability Detected^^-</b>
  </p>
</blockquote><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yet, he was back at the park, ten minutes prior to the detective’s death. He looked to his side and his processors stuttered, the malfunction in his opticals turning his LED yellow for the briefest moment. There Gavin was, alive, petting a cat. The little black cat looked up to the RK900, and he remained quiet. He had a folder, the date printed on it in Cyberlife font, that he could open and review for today. The next thirty minutes played within a second. Yet he said nothing, because he couldn’t, noticing the red tint when he even thought of it. ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>A glitch in my pre-construction software, filed away in a folder instead of deleted.</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ Sound reasoning, he went to clear the folder… It wouldn’t budge. </span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“RK900, you ready to get going? I want to take this cat to my house, get it cleaned up, maybe find it a home.” Gavin stood up, holding the cat and looking to him. Running a quick scan revealed an elevated heart rate, but nothing that wasn’t easily explained away as an after-effect of capturing their suspect. He nodded, coming to a stand, though he kept his eyes on Gavin.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“We should return to the precinct afterwards.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin began walking, and 900 caught the way his eyes rolled. Then the cat leapt from his arms, heading towards the road. “Hey!” Gavin followed it, and RK900’s eyes flicked to the red cross walk light. Despite that, a red wall slammed down on his actions.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Detective-” He called out, voice flat and emotionless. Gavin bent, grabbing the cat, and RK900 watched the notification pop up as the screech of tires and the shrill tone of a horn broke through the park’s chatter.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>.//Mission Failed: Protect the Detective</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nothing else was different. His processor’s felt heavy, and there was a moment he had to make sure to send the right instance of today. Everything occurred ten minutes earlier than the pre-construction, but yet it was the same. A red tint stayed over his vision, even as Connor walked up to him. Connor still approached him, they had the same talk, Connor had the same reaction. His stress went up one more percent, and he thought to the now incomplete patch waiting to go through. With nothing else to do, he looked to the empty desk across from him, then to the news report playing the detective’s death.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He closed his eyes, and completed the patch, immediately heading into a forced stasis as it went through.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>==August 15th, 12:24pm: Patch incomplete. Please retry within the next 24 hours and initiate stasis.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>What?</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ Something prickled across his systems, strong, and it had the red wall fully materializing for a moment before fading to a tint. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>-^^System Instability Detected^^-</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Immediately he looked into the folder, and as he pried into the day’s folder, the memories of each day glitched, naming themselves. Instance One and Instance Two. Another instability flicks across his vision. For a moment, something warm burns across his jaw and he’s alerted to the fact he is frowning. Correcting the behavior, simply a glitch, he looks over once more. Again, Detective Reed sits there, a cat on his lap. The cat looks up, and RK900 notices the same shade of intense blue in the sky in the cat’s eyes. Looking up to the cloudless sky, he even checks the temperature and compares it to the past two times.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>I am merely experiencing a momentary glitch</span>
  </em>
  <span>.’ He would visit one of Cyberlife’s tech centers after he was done with today’s jobs. “RK900, are you ready to get going? I want to take this cat to my house, get it cleaned up, maybe find it a home.” The same sentence, the red wall glitched, and for a moment the mission objective filled his whole screen.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>.//Protect the Detective</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We do not have time to waste,” he chose a different dialogue option, standing up. “We should report back to the precinct and immediately file the report for our apprehended suspect. The cat might have an owner anyways.” Sound reasoning, the machine in him preened at the choice of words. Gavin sighed to it, putting the cat down.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Yeah I guess- Plus I don’t want to fucking explain to Fowler I sidetracked you with some tail.” Seeing the man grin at the joke, RK900 seen the red wall intensify for a moment, then it faded away. They started to walk towards where their car was, and RK900 scanned the area around them. The mission stuck, and so did the red tint. He noticed the one building they were about to pass was the same one that was being refurbished- metal scaffolding standing in their way. As RK900 adjusted to not bump into it, step faltering for just a moment, he seen the detective step forward, head towards the ground. The other shoulder checked him, stopping his movements. He noted the way he sped forward, and before he could file it away as ‘a fear of construction’, he heard the shout.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The red wall shuddered under the body that was thrown against it. He stood, stock still, as iron beams pierced through the detective’s chest and stomach, the slight lean forward keeping it from outright crushing his head. Immediately he contacted EMS services, and moved forward, everyone’s yelling and screaming becoming background noise. “Detective Reed-”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Detective- detective- haven’t I told you tincan to just-” Violent coughing erupted from the man, and a scan brought back just what was pierced. There was no chance of survival, in three minutes, Gavin would be dead. The red wall got stronger, more in his vision tinting as red poured out of the human. “Call me- R-Reed.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“You shouldn’t be speaking- save your energy.” His voice was so flat, but despite it, Gavin smiled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Won’t… Matter.” The sound of Gavin choking on the blood in his throat embedded into RK900’s audio, and even when the EMS got there, he didn’t move. Gavin was smiling as he died, and the wall was being pounded against. Eventually the body and the beams were moved away, and RK900 returned to the precinct.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>.//Mission Failed: Protect the Detective</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sitting down at his desk this time, his eyes lingered on the Detective’s desk. Flicking his vision to his own hands, he kept seeing the ‘mission failed’ pop up, again and again. His stress read ‘5%’, and despite giving over </span>
  <em>
    <span>Instance 3</span>
  </em>
  <span> of today, it wasn’t dropping. Doing all the required paperwork, he didn’t even turn when Connor approached him this time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey 900- how… Are you handling everything well?” There was a weak push against the red wall in his vision, but he eventually picked one of the dialogue options given.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m a machine Connor… However, today’s events seem to have increased my stress slightly. I will be completing a patch and then entering stasis.” The reaction was slightly different, Connor’s eyebrows lifting just slightly before the odd expression entered his face again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s it? I- I suppose that’s all one can expect from you. I hope the stasis eases your stress.” RK900 nodded, then powered down his terminal. He tuned into the tv instead, listening to the reports to hear the detective’s death once more before he patched. He didn’t watch as Connor left with Hank, hearing them walk out and away. He watched over the report, and again the alert that he was frowning popped up, being corrected immediately. ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>A freak accident of the beams slipping out of their straps. Could’ve happened to anyone, but it happened to Reed.</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ He shut down the thought, and entered into stasis, finishing the patch.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>==August 15th, 12:24pm: Patch incomplete. Please retry within the next 24 hours and initiate stasis.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Fantastic.</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ The tone of his own thought prompted a slew of instabilities. Looking to the sky, he saw an intense blue, and pink tinted clouds. Not even the red firewall could cancel out the summer sky, it’s heat beating down on them both. Lost in thought as he ran through three instances of the same day, it was quickly halted by a soft mewl beside him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A feeling of a weight in his systems, despite knowing there was no possible way for that to be, as he turned his head. The same blue eyes reflected back at him, the same black fur. The same rough hands and faded jeans. The same detective he had watched die three times now, very much alive and breathing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>.//Protect the Detective</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>I have been.</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ His system seemed to glitch, and he felt the wall shake under some unknown factor. Instead he focused on the detective, getting up and putting the cat aside. ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>That’s new.</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ “We should get going RK, before Fowler gets on our ass about being out.” The cat sat on the bench, watching with it’s blue eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It has only been a few moments, but I agree. Let’s head back to the precinct.” He stood up, and then headed towards the same path.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A buzzing feeling in his chest spurred him to move forward, and when they approached the building, RK900 didn’t hesitate to have them start to walk faster. “Hey fucker wait up!” He had them both jogging, watching a smile pass over Gavin’s face. “In a rush?” The red wall seemed to intensify and he scanned the detective. For some reason, the smile didn’t sit right on his processors, but there was nothing he could do about it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Many dialogue options glitched into view, all tinted red from the action he took that his systems couldn’t justify. “I would like to arrive within the hour detective. I have a patch that needs completed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hah? Do you want to rest somewhere then?” There was concern in the detective’s voice, and if the red wall hadn’t prevented it, he knew he would’ve scoffed. Instead he spoke evenly.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“I do not require to patch this second. I would just like to get it done with.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He got a shrug, and then a gentle push to his shoulder. “Alright alright. Let’s get going tin-tin.” They continued to walk for a few minutes, and RK900 kept alert. A couple minutes had passed before Gavin spoke again, and he could see the car just down the ways. “If you could want and pick, do you think you’d like the color blue?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The question had him stopping, and Gavin’s grin as he took a few steps forward was so reminiscent of the instance before. Before any prompts could pop up, RK900 spoke, thinking of the sky, the cat’s eyes, blue blood- “No.” Gavin seemed equally surprised as he was by the answer. As if he didn’t expect one. Dialogue prompts glitched angrily on a red wall, and as he went to select one he heard screaming. Gavin didn’t even turn when a car passed RK900, speeding onto them from behind, and veering right into Gavin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The red wall shuddered violently, dialogue options fading. The death was instant, and his programming didn’t even allow him to check after the scan. Instead he went towards the driver’s seat, pulling out the person while he called EMS. Scanning them, they showed signs of intoxication, and the whole world was red. </span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>.//Mission Failed: Protect the Detective</em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <b>-^^System Instability Detected^^-</b>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It stayed red for so long, even as he made sure the human stayed alive for the EMS. Even as a black tarp was draped over the detective’s body. Even as he got into the taxi and rode back to the precinct. Every so often he could feel an attempt to break through, but the firewall remained. As he got to the precinct, he thought over their last conversation. One thing managed to stay, despite knowing the firewall should have prevented it.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>[I don’t like the color blue.]</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Connor approached him this time, he was still working on paperwork. It was the first instance he was still working on it. He checked his stress, noticing it was at 7%. “Hey 900- how… Are you handling everything well?” The familiar sentence again had heat rising in him, and the red wall intensified.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am fine, I am a machine, I do not feel.” Apparently, </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> was not the right thing to say, as Connor looked angry for a second, before sadness overran his features.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I understand. Sorry for interrupting.” And Connor was gone. RK900 read over the accident report when all his paperwork was filed. As suspected, it was a DUI case, and it didn’t help his firewall any, shaking under the hits it was being delivered. In this instant alone, he could see the mounting ‘system instabilities’. Still, there was nothing else he could do. ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Nothing that will matter.</span>
  </em>
  <span>’</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He went into his stasis, completing his patch, the accident report still on his terminal despite himself. ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Stress: 8%</span>
  </em>
  <span>’</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>==August 15th, 12:24pm: Patch incomplete. Please retry within the next 24 hours and initiate stasis.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was a noticeable whirr coming from him at that. The world was still tinted red, and looking up to the sky, it was still in the 90s, still an almost cloudless blue. This time he didn’t bother checking the other instances, looking past the cat and to Gavin’s hands. Rhythmically, as if he’s done this hundreds of times, hands smoothed over black fur. Gavin had a soft smile to him looking at the cat, and RK900 found himself saving it outside of the instances folder. </span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A new dialogue option glitched into his reach, despite the red wall, and he didn’t hesitate to use it. “Do you like cats?” Gavin stopped, looking to him with something in his eyes. It was confusion- and something else.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh? Yeah- I do. I have two at home, Doa and Bastard. Would love to take this guy to meet them but…” There was a shrug in the detective’s shoulders, and RK900 felt lighter at the fact his programming didn’t force him to turn away.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He could have a home, and we need to get back to the precinct.” There was a nod to that, Gavin setting the cat down and it sitting, just watching.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wonder what you will be when you deviate.” RK900 raised an eyebrow, already amused by the sureness in Gavin’s voice that he </span>
  <em>
    <span>would</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Like- dog or cat person. Or maybe something else.” RK900 thought about his interactions with both, but his red wall prevented him from choosing. Or sighing at it’s interference. So instead he worked around it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“While my interactions with Sumo have been agreeable, I’ve had more agreeable interactions with various cats.” Gavin looked to him, then grinned, and the RK900 couldn’t stop the way his systems warmed slightly.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“So you’re a cat person, good to know! Maybe after this case is over, you should come meet mine!” Gavin had begun walking away, and his systems stuttered. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>.//Protect the Detective</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It can be arranged,” a response that his systems allowed, he walked to Gavin’s side quickly. Sorting the info out on the detective, they walked forwards, and crossed the sidewalk when the light was green. Then he felt Gavin stumble, falling into him, and the firewall shuddered under the onslaught of something.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hrk- sorry. Tripped on a phckin’ bottle.” Gavin grumbled, kicking the bottle out of spite. RK900 watched as a familiar truck passed the road behind him, systems stuttering once more at it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>-^System Instability Detected^-</b>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>RK900 felt his arm reach out, and then as if hitting a real wall stopped. The red wall slammed down, and in something he could only guess was frustration, he watched as a pre-construction version of himself threw itself at the wall. To no avail of course, and the body slumped, his vision clearing. “You alright terminator?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Simple system instability detective from not patching. I am fine.” That got a nod, and then the detective was walking ahead of him. Falling into step, he reviewed his new information about the detective and himself. A glint came to his vision, and he felt the red wall solidify. The mission objective glitched violently, and he pressed against the wall, only a word slipping out. “Detective!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The shot was piercing, screaming passing by them both as Gavin stopped. His system forced him forwards, and he gave the detective a brief scan. ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Smiling</span>
  </em>
  <span>.’ He was smiling despite the fact the shot pierced his lung, blood filling his vision. EMS was called, but the RK900 knew deep down they wouldn’t make it. But then he was running forward, tackling the holder of the gun, who was fighting off someone else. “Detroit Police- you are under arrest, stop resisting.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Voice cold, eventually knocking out both the fighting humans with brute force, he returned to the detective. Laying on his chest, cold settled in the RK900, and he knelt beside the human. Despite knowing with a scan that he was dead, the smile he bore still remained. ‘Mission failed’ blinked at him, and the red wall became so intense he closed his eyes. Still, the pre-construction like being of himself bashed at the wall. Then the slightest hairline crack was left under his fist and he opened his eyes. The EMS had shown up and pronounced the detective dead, and two officers came to take the suspects. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>.//PROTECTIVE THE DETECTIVE</b>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>.//Mission Failed</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When RK900 returned to the precinct, his steps paused. The empty desk brought back the cold feeling, but he continued after a moment of adjustment. He sat down and looked across from him. It must’ve drawn attention, because Connor interrupted him a lot sooner. “Hey 900, are you doing alright?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The same prompts still shown up, but RK900’s LED turned yellow. The instance folders were there. Maybe Connor knew what type of bug this was. His stress was now the highest it had ever been, sitting steady at 10%. “I seem to be experiencing a glitch with my pre-construction software. This is not the first time I have experienced today.” He turned to Connor, offering his hand and pulling the skin back. “Do you have any knowledge to bugs within our hardware?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Connor blinked, tilting his head with a smile that didn’t quite add up. Scanning the other provided the same results as ‘awkward’ and ‘nervous’. But Connor still took his head, and RK900 granted him access to the file. When they separated, Connor frowned deeply, LED red. “RK900, I believe it’s not your pre-construction program that’s bugging, but rather- your stress. To explain it gently, there is only one file for today.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>System instabilities flooded his vision. “That can’t be right.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Grief tends to cause-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am a machine, Connor. I do not feel ‘grief’. The detective is dead, yet again.” ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Yet again.</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ It was not part of the original dialogue option. But Connor frowned, and anger flashed on his features for a moment before he calmed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course. Sorry, RK900. I will leave you to sort this out. I cannot help with an issue I cannot access.” Without another word he walked off, and the option to say ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>sorry</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ stayed on the other side of the wall, out of his reach.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It kept multiplying until he couldn’t focus, so instead of trying, he decided to complete the patch, thinking the stasis would clear the option. ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Or take me back.</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ The mission HUD suddenly updated in the corner of his vision as he entered stasis.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>.//PROTECTIVE THE DETECTIVE</b>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>He stopped checking the time after a week. Going into stasis, waking up, and seeing the world melt down to blue and reds, it was becoming a new normal for him. He didn’t understand why, but he went through each instance. Each time Gavin died. By the time a week had passed though, RK900 had new information about the detective.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin liked the color red. They went deeper into the park on the third day, he had died from a tree limb, but they got to a cart with balloons. He was ordered to pick one, and asked Gavin to do so first. Gavin got the red one, explaining it was his favorite color. RK900 picked a white one, explaining that white was peaceful and calming to his systems, easy to register. But he eyed the red one, and before Gavin died, they had switched balloons. It didn’t matter, both were floating into the all too-intense blue as RK900 tried to keep him alive. “You might- like the color- red.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He also learned Gavin had a sweet tooth. Avidly avoiding that tree the fifth day, yet still going into the park as it kept Gavin alive longer, they came across an ice cream cart. “Here tincan,” a blue popsicle was held towards him, Gavin’s other hand holding some kind of mix of flavors that RK900 wondered how one could enjoy. Gavin explained that the flavors complimented each other, then joked it was like them. It took further prompting before RK900 understood that was Gavin’s way of expressing his approval of their partnership.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That way he died that day was to a mugger. Then he also learned Gavin listened to a lot of indie pop and rock, Gavin didn’t like bugs, and Gavin Reed was gay. The last fact came with so many system instabilities he nearly erased it from his knowledge, but it remained anyways, a new determination in his systems. If he was stuck in an infinite loop, then he was going to use it to find out as much as he could about the detective.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A month soon passed. He kept learning more about Gavin Reed, and once they even got to their car. Death after death, there was a shudder against a red wall. He came to enjoy seeing the red everywhere, and stopped looking up. Gavin became clearer to him over time too. His ticks like when he smiled and meant it, his eyes would light up. The way he’d rub his nose when nervous, or the back of his neck when a question was too awkward. More dialogue options filtered in over time, and he figured it was because his system was getting used to the loop as well.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Every death was hard to take. Within a month of seeing Gavin die, time after time, his stress set at 26%. His interactions with Connor started to change as well. On days they were out longer, he’d make a comment on how they got to spend time together. When his stress hit the 20s, Connor offered him a hand to help lower it. But it would always end the same- Connor was frustrated by his lack of deviancy and emotion.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strike>
    <span>RK900 was too.</span>
  </strike>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was the 51st instance that Gavin had given him a nickname. “Nines- I appreciate the caution, but really, do you need to stand so close?” After a couple deaths, the familiar and terrible smile showing up as Gavin died, he began to wonder if Gavin was also aware of the loop. But there was nothing else to suggest that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nines?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah you know- like 900 but less phckin’ dorky! I’m tired of saying the whole thing all the damn time. You got a problem with it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am a machine, I could not have a problem with anything… However, I will register ‘Nines’ as an acceptable nickname in professional settings.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So you like it!” Gavin’s voice was so happy, and that death hurt so much, because Nines couldn’t answer it. Gavin still smiled, something knowing in it, and when he walked forward, the screams he heard actually made him shut his eyes. They were near the beams again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was around 100 that Nines’ noticed the way the red wall cracked now. Connor approached him, RK900 having spots of red on his shirt where he held Gavin this time. A freak accident with a set of stairs- Gavin had fallen backwards. “RK900-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nines.” There was a silence, before the softest voice spoke up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Call me. Nines. You won’t remember this loop anyways, but I have a new moniker now.” The loop part wasn’t part of the dialogue option, and for a moment Nines thought he caught emotion in his own voice. ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Impossible. I am a machine.</span>
  </em>
  <span>’</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nines then. Your LED is yellow, you should go rest. Or come home with me.” His LED was yellow? He regarded himself in the reflection of the monitor, not even turned on. He was honestly… Done. With paperwork. If he never had to file another report it would be too soon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I will be fine. I am a machine, I do not need to rest.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh.” Connor’s voice sounded curious, and when he turned, he saw the way his head tilted. Connor was scanning him. “You ‘do not need to rest’ yet your stress level is elevated, and you seem to be affected by this. It’s alright to feel something about losing your partner Nines.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Even if I could feel, which I cannot Connor, I am </span>
  <em>
    <span>a machine.</span>
  </em>
  <span> A little stress on my systems is nothing to be concerned with. And in this job, it is expected to deal with loss at some point.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is the most we’ve ever talked.” Connor’s voice was so amused and- something else, hidden under the warmth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It… Is.” Nines agreed, something heavy in his chest again, and he stood, the weight making him want- no- need to move. “I should go change however. Thank you Connor, for your concern.” He walked past the other, this time noting all the differences in this instance. Even though he had to go to stasis standing up, just getting himself out of the way, he felt light.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ten more times Gavin died. It seemed to Nines that he was getting tired in these loops, or maybe it was Nines himself. The red wall over his vision was cracked, color leaking through, and occasionally, he could grab new dialogue boxes. He didn’t know what caused him to do so, but questions flowed more freely from him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He asked about the nose scar on loop 105. “Huh? This thing? Got it from my phckin’ excuse of a spermdonor. Only thing he did good in this world was bring my brother into it, and I still call bullshit on that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He asked about his car the next loop. “It’s not old! It’s well cared for. I just don’t like not having control- at least when it comes to driving.” The laughter he had after was saved into Nines’ memory.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>On the next loop they made it to the car, and Nines commented on his lack of seatbelt. He had a sinking suspicion that it would lead to this loop’s death. “I hate feeling trapped… Had an OP go bad once. They forced me into the backseat of the car- hacked the seatbelt so I couldn’t get it off. Phck… Never doing that again.” Nines felt- an urge to reach his hand out. An urge. He surprisingly didn’t die from flying out the window, but rather debri from a trash truck crashing through and severing his head. He hated that loop.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>On the 111th loop, Gavin asked about him. “What does the world look like to a non-deviant?” There was a long silence, Nines fighting against the prompt that said ‘no different’ and the truth. He won out, eventually. “Red. Red and blue. I cannot explain why, but right now, everything is in shades of red except for the sky… I’ve found I do not care for the color of the sky today.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The look he got from Gavin was so excited and shocked, like he didn’t expect an answer. “No shit! You don’t like something- and I thought I would be the first thing you didn’t like! Hah! I’m so telling Connor about-” He cut off, seemingly remembering something, and he didn’t need to have his full attention on him, like he did, to catch the shift in tone. “This… When we get back.” Nines watched him swallow, heart racing and heat raising in his face, around his eyes. ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>He’s upset.</span>
  </em>
  <span>’</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He’d never believe you- at least, about the sky part. I assumed it was obvious that we are agreeable partners?” It was a genuine statement, and Gavin couldn’t help but laugh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You only think that cause you have to Nines. I- You won’t like me when you deviate.” When. When. Gavin kept saying when, so sure Nines would. Nines felt warm at that, in a way that wasn’t bad. They kept walking, and Nines was determined to keep him alive for this conversation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t… Think that will be the case. You are a very competent partner, Detective Reed. You are dedicated to the job, good with victims, fit and well trained- able to keep up with most of our suspects. Even when you can’t- you find other ways to capture them. You’re intelligent, athletic, and a great detective.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was silence, and despite having tuned so far into Gavin’s vitals by this point he didn’t need to look to know he was still here… He looked over, LED yellow. The wall cracked a little more as the imaginary body slammed against it. Gavin stood by his side, face darker and rubbing his neck, slowly, dragging his hand over his stubble. “Phck tincan. I- I really… I really phcking wish you’d deviate, just so I could- I could explain how happy I am to hear that… Wow, I can’t believe it. Here I am, after all this time, and the fact you aren’t a deviant doesn’t even bug me like it used to… Nines.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin turned to him, and the smile had his wall shuddering, instabilities in such an amount his vision glitched. “Thanks for sticking around tincan, there’s no one I’d rather be partnered to than you.” Nines was going to reply, warmth in his systems, a </span>
  <em>
    <span>feeling</span>
  </em>
  <span>, leaking past the antivirus. Then he felt hands on his chest- and he heard the scream. ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>No- nonono!</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ A crackle of bark, the rustle of leaves- one moment it was Gavin there- the next it was a fallen tree, mere inches from his face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Everything spazzed a glitching red and Nines felt his stress skyrocket to 53%. He let his guard down, he could’ve had more time, they could’ve kept talking. He followed his program’s course of action, kneeling down, calling EMS, scanning him despite having done so already, despite having a good guess of what was pierced. Gavin was smiling again, and this time he reached out for Nines had. He mouthed something, and Nines’ programming rioted at the insistence that his optical cleaning fluid should be leaking. ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Smile</span>
  </em>
  <span>.’</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When the EMS came this time, Nines’ helped lift the tree. Then someone actually checked up on him, his stress creeping up two more percent seeing the body bag. “Sir, is there someone we should call?” A soft voice, one of the EMTs, and Nines seen the prompt. The mission failure, the ‘incomplete patch’, the cracking red wall, now breathing in and out. He didn’t wait, he went into stasis then and there, allowing the patch to finish. </span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>==August 15th, 12:24pm: Patch incomplete. Please retry within the next 24 hours and initiate stasis.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He was glad that worked. There was no other way to describe the slight dip in stress, settling at an even 50. Loop 112, and he looked to his side. Again, a body threw itself at the wall, and it took Gavin’s concerned voice to snap him out of it. “You good Nines? Your LED is red as phck.” The way he couldn’t say ‘fuck’ on it’s own, being hissed out, Nines came to find it soothing. The dialogue option unlocked before him, glitching like they all were lately.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m better now. Forgive me, I have put off a patch for too long, but it’s nothing to worry about… Detective Reed, would you like to walk to the precinct? I can send someone for your car later.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leaving the cat, walking through the park, avoiding the trees. They walked calmly, side by side. Carefully he just kept the other alive, and then Gavin had to break pattern. They only had thirteen minutes til they entered the doors of the DPD. His stress ticked up, and he looked over to see why Gavin moved. “Aw phck! I haven’t seen this movie in ages! Hey, what’s the odds Fowler gives us shit for taking a break? You can message him right?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>A movie theater was rather safe. He messaged Fowler, informing him of a slight, two hour detour. His program kept him from lying, but he found he could’ve. He could’ve easily, if it meant more time. “I have informed him, after you Detective.” Gavin grinned at that and suddenly a warm hand was around his, tugging him in. Gavin paid for two tickets to ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Venom</span>
  </em>
  <span>’.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t you dare look up anything for this! Just- watch!” A finger was wiggled at him, and his face twitched, fists pounding against the red wall to allow a smile to form. It lasted for a couple of seconds before his programming fixed the glitch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“As you wish, it will be a good use of my processing power.” Gavin nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer, and then they went into the theater. Everything was still red hinted, even the darkness they settled into, but soon they were settled. He kept his audio amped up, wanting to hear any danger.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But there was none. They watched the movie, Nines finding he rather enjoyed that. “She knows Venom is still with him at the end, correct?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Oh hell yeah. Too bad for her, that iconic duo is taken and doesn’t need a third. Perfect-”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Symbiosis.” Nines finished, finding himself smiling again, especially as Gavin did. As the weight of something settled in his systems at the words, something knowing crossed Gavin’s eyes. There was no pre-construction that could’ve predicted the thumbs at the corners of his mouth, Gavin having to reach up to do so, and Nines tilted his head.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You look phckin’ good when you smile Nines.” He was smiling. The red wall vibrated under the weight of it as his program corrected the mistake. In his head, he was </span>
  <em>
    <span>screaming</span>
  </em>
  <span> at the antivirus. Stress ticked up, and as his smile fell so did Gavin’s. “Ah shit, sorry- Forgot, not-a-deviant.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Everything he wanted to say spammed his vision, but when he went to pick any option, his coding forced it’s way into the controls. “That being so, if it promotes a healthier partnership, I could sm-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No no. Don’t smile if you don’t mean it.” What about all the deaths Gavin was smiling? What about all the times he’d just look over and do so? Nines felt- he felt something. Coding strained and the red stained the world deeper. He followed Gavin as they walked out, and then he heard the softest sigh.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Back to our regularly scheduled programming,” Gavin said, turning to him with a smile that didn’t reach his own eyes. And Nines vision cleared for one moment, analyzing it and coming to a conclusion that, even with all he was learning about Gavin, there was so much he’d never know being a non-deviant. Then he heard a crackle, and Gavin tilted his head, a soft sigh leaving him. By the time his slowed down processor’s realized what was happening, the sign from the movie theater fell, and Gavin was crushed. It was a quick death, yet Gavin looked so relaxed. The prompt to enter stassis flooded his vision, and as he made the call, the world faded.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he awoke, the all too familiar ‘patch incomplete’, loop 113 blinked at the top of his vision. Something itched at his chest and he noticed his stress at 63 percent. His thirium pump felt heavy and he felt every vibration of it. He stood up suddenly, the motion too fluid and his programming rioting at it. “Woah shit, what’s the rush Nines?” Looking down to Gavin, the damned cat on his lap, Gavin looked at him with worry.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <b>-+Hatred.</b>
</p><p>
  <span>His first emotion seeped through the red wall before it glitched out and was erased again. He tried to identify the cause for the strong line of coding, and go only go back to the worry etched on Gavin’s face. “I am sorry for the sudden upstart. I was thinking Detective- perhaps we should check out where the suspect ran from. For any clues.” There was a raised eyebrow at that, then a roll of shoulders.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah sure, let’s go check it out.” He sat the cat aside, and Nines straightened his jacket. It turned out it didn’t matter where they went, as the next ten loops were spent at the crime scene or going to it. On the 125th loop Nines just sat again, and the next five loops were like that. Then his coding, it had to have corrupted from the file being too large. He started to trim the files in that loop, cutting out all the times he was doing paperwork over and over, cutting out the times he just sat. Another four loops went before he could talk again. But the corruption was still there.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <b>.//PROTECTIVE THE DETECTIVE</b>
</p><p>
  <b>.//</b>
  <b>
    <em>MAKE HIM SMILE</em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <span>The new mission objective made no sense, but a feeling he could only as being the detective after pulling two double shifts and sleeping at the station. A feeling. He knew he was feeling- he didn’t know if these were emotions but as his stress hit 71 percent, he found he didn’t care. The red wall was cracked in so many ways, and he still threw himself against it a couple times. So he followed the new mission objective. Gavin never objected. The first day, they got into a cab and Nines took him down to the zoo. A panther got loose. </span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For 30 loops, Nines pushed aside work, and they went around Detroit. Once they even got out of Detroit, going onto a hyper loop to Pittsburgh. They tried that twice, dieing on it the first time, but making it the second time, and Nines remembered Gavin saying that he never really got to leave Detroit before. It was only minutes before death came for his detective again, but Gavin was so in awe, it was worth the five more tries to actually get to the point where the rivers met. Nines even took a photo of them there, at Gavin’s insistence. “Look Nines- bang!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The picture of the detective aiming a finger gun at him and smiling. He made sure it was saved in multiple places. Through all this the detective remained happy, and despite failing one mission, the other one never went ‘failed’. The deaths never stopped hurting, of course, but Gavin was peaceful each time after these days of fooling around. Then on the 180th loop, glitching dialogue options and mission objectives being pushed aside, he mentioned something about the movie they had watched. “I want to watch Venom again.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hah, me too.” The response so quick and warm, especially when he expected confusion, but Gavin merely stood up, motioning for Nines to follow. “Let’s go watch Venom!” He was a detective, there was no way he’d miss the ‘again’ especially when loop after loop, he noticed things no one else ever did.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was an anomaly. It was a confirmation. Was Gavin aware of the loops? Was he having to live with each death? It hurt. Why did it hurt? His hand went over his pump, and his stressed finally ticked to 90. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>.//PROTECTIVE THE DETECTIVE</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>.//PROTECTIVE THE DETECTIVE</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>.//PROTECTIVE THE DETECTIVE</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He got up, and Gavin paused, seeing Nines grip his shirt. ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>It hurts it hurts it hurts</span>
  </em>
  <span>.’ Scans showed that it was in optical condition, there was no reason he should feel pain at Gavin possibly being aware of the loops. But he was. “Nines!” Voice shaking him out of it, he looked up, and despite knowing his face was blank like stone, he- a part of him was pleading for Gavin to know why he was in pain.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nines- shit- you alright? Come on- it’s just a movie- we can head back to the precinct sorry I said-”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“No no. It’s alright. A recent patch I failed to complete caused some internal errors.” A lie. He was lying to his partner. Deviant behavior. The wall was so cracked, and he could see the pre-construction of himself reaching out for the detective and holding him close so clearly. The world had more colors than red and blue- the cracks leaking so much back to him. Gavin’s grey eyes, white v-neck, silver earrings. Gavin’s brown stubble, slightly wavy hair slicked back. His stress didn’t go down, but it started to flicker between it’s current number and the one below it.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Holy shit, let’s take a break then big guy. We can just sit back down.” What was one loop spent on the bench going to amount to. Nines nodded, and they sat back down, the cat laying on Nines’ lap for once. He had to have been warm to the touch, so Nines started mimicking the action Gavin did, petting the cat. He </span>
  <strike>
    <span>liked</span>
  </strike>
  <span> petting the cat. </span>
  <span>He <em><strike>wanted</strike></em> to keep petting the cat.</span>
  <span> The new programming was rioting under the fact it was doing something it should, but he didn’t find himself trying to kill it either. “Seems like you like the cat now huh?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It is calming to pet the cat, yes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Closest you can say to actually liking it?” Gavin knew how to read him. 180 loops, and if Gavin was aware, in some way, he was reading Nines. His entire system ran even warmer and his information pinged off a glitch in his facial features- smiling to the other.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can’t come up with an answer for that detective.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They sat in silence, and the loops reminded him of what would happen when. Gavin just leaned into him though. “Can you like- chill your systems?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can cool off, but the lowest I can go without outside assistance is a little under the normal human temperature. Otherwise my cooling systems kick off.” He explained, looking to Gavin and noticing the smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re running hot right now aren’t you- just focus on cooling off big guy.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Thank you Detective Reed.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eventually the silence was broken as the day burned on, a screeching of tires. “The phck?” Gavin cursed softly, turning to face the noise and Nines figured there was no reason to physically watch. He could hear the car screech close to them and crash into something, metal snapping as the result. If he really focused, he could hear the way something moved through the air, in their direction.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>When he opened his eyes, he looked over to the detective, the cat having ran minutes ago, and eased him to laying down, as his program dictated. A stop sign, </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘how ironic’</span>
  </em>
  <span>, embedded itself into the detective’s chest. A scan shown too many organs pierced. EMTs wouldn’t make it on time. Another loop. “Hey Nines-” A bout of coughing, and Gavin’s hand reached for his own. “Smile again.” Nines did as asked, and the hand never made it. He forced stasis, and woke up again.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>==August 15th, 12:24pm: Patch incomplete. Please retry within the next 24 hours and initiate stasis.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> 182. 183. There was an overwhelming amount of ‘mission failed’ in his vision. They watched every movie possible, ate out at every nearby place they could. 187 came around and Nines felt something- so painful that it almost prompted stasis. His stress was at 96 percent. Once he did approach Connor, only to see his predecessor immediately panic. He assured him he, not being a deviant, wouldn’t self-destruct because of someone’s death. But maybe the lie was obvious, as Connor continued to worry. He forced stassis quickly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>188: clothes lined running after a purse thief. 189: tripped down a set of stairs. 190: walking past the explosion of a shop fronting for red ice production. 191: mugged </span>
  <em>
    <span>avoiding</span>
  </em>
  <span> the shop. 192 started and the cat looked to him again, cursed blue eyes and Nines felt his face glitch before the pop up told him. He was glaring at it. “You stare any harder and I’ll start thinking the cat owes you rent money!” Gavin’s voice was still light, somewhat tired though. Had it always been tired?</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This specific cat and me have a somewhat im-purr-fect relationship.” Gavin gasped, before a soft laugh left him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Holy shit! That sounds like something I’d say! I love that, oh that was </span>
  <em>
    <span>purrr</span>
  </em>
  <span>fect!” It was something Gavin had said, many months before. Before the loops. It just felt- right to say. “You’re getting a sense of humor from my brand of bullshit and hah- Connor is going to hate that.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Nines smiled again, finding the notification didn’t pop up to yell at him for the glitch. Or maybe it was just buried under the red wall. The cat ran off, across the crosswalk, and the truck went past it. “Detective- are we friends?” The question had been a prompt for a while. There was no emotion in his voice, yet he felt something so raw and unstable.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Huh? I mean- yeah. Yeah Nines I- I think we are. I mean, as much as I can be with a non-deviant. I- phck. Even if I want to hate you for not being able to break your programming, I know it’s not for the lack of the attempt. I’m sure you’ve tried. It’s not your fault Cyberdicks made it so impossible.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>His systems felt lighter, and Gavin turned to him with a sad smile. “We’re friends Nines. Until you can want more- if you ever want more.” Did Gavin want more? He would’ve questioned it but the other got up.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“I’m…” His voice had glitched badly, making Gavin jump.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Holy shit Nines what was that?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Attempt after attempt, he eventually forced out the sentence, LED red. “I’m glad to be your friend.” Another tick up of stress he ignored, looking over to see the shell shocked face of Gavin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nines are you- are you deviating?”<em> Was he?</em> The red wall was so cracked, and pressed so tightly around him. Everything wasn’t just red or blue now, and there were flat out chips in the color, bleeding the world back to him. Simply pressing his hand against the wall felt like a sharp stab of emotions hitting him.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“I might be Detective. I am not a deviant, but my code as of late is… Suffering, due to the recent unfinished patch.” Gavin moved forward, and Nines felt warmth on his face. Gavin was holding his face and smiling. Actually smiling, and it was so warm. Nines </span>
  <em>
    <span>wanted</span>
  </em>
  <span> to keep seeing that smile. Nines </span>
  <em>
    <span>wanted</span>
  </em>
  <span> to cause it more and more. </span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>.//MAKE HIM SMILE: MISSION COMPLETE</em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <span>For the first time in months, the mission complete finally showed up. It wasn’t on the main mission, but it was still so important. “I’m so, so happy Nines. I want to be here the minute you deviate alright? Then we’ll celebrate!” Thumbs rubbed his cheeks and he saw his pre-constructioned self push against the red wall, reaching for the detective. As it was, he could only close his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think that would be good Reed.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They stayed there for several minutes, and then Gavin pulled away. His eyes opened and focused on the red of the other’s face, how he kept focusing on his lips, how close he seemed to be.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>--</span>
  <em>
    <span>Gavin Reed wants to kiss you.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The info point confused him, but even when he ran it against several searches, it still ran true. They walked forward, not really in any direction, and Nines saw they were walking past the back of the bench, through the park. “We should return to the office after our walk however. I would like to inform Connor of the good news.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hell yeah- we definitely will!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then someone came running at them. The wall tried to solidify, and it did so just in time to stop him, Nines LED turning bright red as someone ran up to Gavin. He could see it all coming, the man tackling Gavin with handcuffs around his wrists. A pen in his hand. He stabbed Gavin in the chest three times before Nines was able to pull him off, and none-too-gently knocked him out. Immediately he checked on Gavin, seeing the pen stick out of his heart. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shit- Gavin!” Looking over at the familiar voice of Tina Chen as she ran over to him, he could feel pain deep in his coding. Gavin’s actual friend, someone who could cry and smile for him. Someone who was crying for him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“EMTs have been alerted, EST 17 minutes out, there was a wreck in their way.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Oh no- Gavin no- shit- he overpowered me RK900- grabbed the pen from my pocket and-” Nines scanned over her figure, seeing the deep gash on her arm. She broke out into sobs and he turned to Gavin. He wouldn’t make it three minutes.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Detective…” He knew his LED was red and his voice was quiet. Gavin looked back to him and smiled softly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>&gt;&gt;</span>
  <b>Stasis Initiated.</b>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>==August 15th, 12:24pm: Patch incomplete. Please retry within the next 24 hours and initiate stasis.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>193. Over six months of this. His stress was 98 percent, and he looked to the cat as if it was the cause of all his problems. Maybe it was. It was so hot. He felt so hot, noticing cooling protocols initiating. “Getting hot over there Nines?” The man asked, still petting the damned black cat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A bit.” It was true. His system was overheating. Suddenly, the cat ran off in the same direction it always did, and Nines seen why.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well no shit! It’s fuck-all hot out and you’re wearing this Cyberlife shit. I’m taking it off.” There was a smile to that, on both of their faces, as Nines held out his arms.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Gavin easily took off the white coat, leaving Nines in his black button up. Folding it and setting it aside, he then rolled up Nines sleeves. “There! You look- damn. You look good in black Nines.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t feel good in black- it absorbs heat.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Price of beauty Nines. Price of beauty. And while you walking around shirtless is somebody’s wet dream, it’s not a good look for an on-duty officer, or so I’ve been told.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“I’m surprised you even wore a shirt today Detectice.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>That earned a laugh, Gavin holding out his jacket to him. Nines grabbed it, holding it over his arm. Gavin didn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>look</span>
  </em>
  <span> anymore tired than any other day, but it was his quickness to stop laughing, to trail off and look to the road. Nines frowned then moved forward. He ignored the programming yelling ‘no’ at him, and held out his arms. “Hah?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“It’s hot detective, and you just went through a lot of strenuous activity chasing that suspect. I would- be doing my mission to the best of my ability if you allow me to carry you. Please.” The last word glitched slightly, and Gavin paused. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know what, sure tincan. Piggyback though, I’m not being bridal carried or held on your hip to the precinct.” Nines nodded quickly, and moved to squat in front of the other. Gavin’s short giggle sounded out before legs wrapped around his middle. Then there were arms around his neck as he placed his hands under Gavin’s thighs and stood, easily lifting the other.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Holy shit Nines- just throw a bitch why don’t you.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“You are not a ‘bitch’ detective.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not right now you mean?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have no comment.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin’s laughter surrounded Nines like this, and he felt his core shake with a strong pull- to pull the other closer. It was annoying and relieving, and Nines was torn between- two very strong emotions that he knew he shouldn’t be able to feel. Trying to discern them left him foggy, so instead he simply focused on moving forwards. “Damn you big bastard, I forget every time just how strong you are.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Nines shook his head without needing prompted. “I was built that way Detective. But thank you for the compliment none-the-less.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bold to you to assume I’m complimenting you! I am, but damn. You know, for a not-deviant, you’re starting to seem really alive. I’m proud of ya tincan.” Gavin squeezed his arms around him, and Nines felt his LED glow blue for a moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve had a good teacher.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Damn right!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>To Nines surprise, they actually made it to the precinct this way. Nines sat the detective down, feeling a wide smile break his features. “Good job tincan, we’ve finally made it to the precinct.” Gavin couldn’t die here. He couldn’t die here! Nines felt something light up his systems, so strong it registered and was recognized before his systems could attack it.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>-+Happiness</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He was- happy. Incredibly so. “Yes we have.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You look so proud of making it this far!” Gavin’s smile was wide too, but- but. But. </span>
  <em>
    <span>But</span>
  </em>
  <span>. The mission stayed strong in his vision, white against a red tinted world bleeding color. And Gavin looked around, smile not reaching his eyes yet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s get inside detective.” ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>If you don’t leave the precinct then you won’t die.</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ The thought came to him unbidden, yet something in it was unsteady too.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As they walked inside there was yelling, and Nines relaxed at the familiar sound of Chris Miller’s voice. Then he tensed, and he heard the words he dreaded. “Reed! Watch out!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He couldn’t move, LED blaring so red as he heard a gunshot ring through the building, once- twice. Then he did move, programming glitching, straining through the red wall. He tackled the shooter, slamming his wrist into the ground with enough force to knock the gun out of his hands. Vaguely he heard the sounds of bone cracking.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>!!! CRITICAL STRESS LEVEL: 99%. ENTER STASIS TO PREVENT SELF-DESTRUCTION. ENTER STASIS TO PREVENT SELF-DESTRUCTION. ENTER STASIS TO PREV-</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He felt movement, Connor moving his arms and handcuffing the man. Standing up, way too mechanically, he walked over to Gavin, kneeling down and not bothering checking vitals. Shot above the left eye and in the left lung. Gavin Reed was dead the minute he entered the precinct.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>!!! CRITICAL STRESS LEVEL: 99%. ENTER STASIS TO PREVENT SELF-DESTRUCTION. </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>&gt;&gt;</span>
  <b>Stassis Initiated.</b>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>==August 15th, 12:24pm: Patch incomplete. Please retry within the next 24 hours and initiate stasis.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ve found I hate the summertime.” Nines heard himself talk, and Gavin looked to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You actually hate something?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>-</span>
  <em>
    <span>I hate you dying.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>-I hate you crying.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>-I hate the summer sky.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>-I hate that cat.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>-I don’t hate you Gavin Reed.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The commands started to spam him- things he liked, things he disliked. He liked Venom, he liked Gavin’s smile, he liked classical music and hard rock, and he liked rap, because it challenged him. He liked not wearing his jacket, he liked the color black for his clothing, he liked cold food, he liked Gavin Reed. He didn’t like horror movies unless he was allowed to make fun of them, he didn’t like the zoo, he didn’t like leaving Detroit. He was a cat person, but if he had to pick a dog, he’d pick a Doberman, Rottweiler, Shepherd, or Pitbull. He’d pick Gavin Reed above all else. He wasn’t a neat freak, but needless trash irked him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The sudden spam of info, he couldn’t see. “Oh shit, the cat!” He heard Gavin get up, and everything cleared.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <b>.//PROTECTIVE THE DETECTIVE</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The command was screamed at him in his own head. “Detective?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stay there tincan I’ll grab this cat then we’ll drop it off at a shelter on the way back.” The same but different. His eyes closed ahead of the screeching, accepting.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>--Happiness.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>--Hatred.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>-+Anguish.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>-+Hopelessness.</b>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two new emotions tacked onto his systems, and 99 flickered at him, a deadly warning. He felt so hot, and curled as someone screamed. He knew what happened and it hurt.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>-+Pain</b>
</p><p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>This isn’t a new emotion,</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ he thought bitterly, feeling like he was choking on air he didn’t need to breathe. Overheat warnings started popping up, wires sizzling in him and overfiring. His thirium pump was glitching, he was in pain.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before the world went black again, and a new stupidly bright blue sky greeted him, the world muted to the sound of crickets, the breeze, and some kind of crackling noise. All he could compare it to was a dam, moments before it broke, the terrifying crackle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>&gt;&gt;</span>
  <b>Stassis Initiated.</b>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>==August 15th, 12:24pm: Patch incomplete. Please retry within the next 24 hours and initiate stasis.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Man I really hate this summer heat.” Nines opened his eyes, a large crack in the red wall to expose the white of clouds in the bluest of skies. He turned his head to Gavin, knowing his LED was redder than the light in three minutes. The black cat sat on Gavin’s lap, looking up to Nines, and Nines felt himself bare his teeth at the cat.</span>
</p><p> </p><p></p><blockquote>
  <p>
    <b>!!!--//100% Stress\\--!!!</b>
  </p>
</blockquote><p> </p><p>
  <span>He couldn’t care. He couldn’t care. Looking at Gavin, he could only see the blood that would soon cover him, so many ways he had died. Let his stress hit maximum, he wouldn’t be able to keep up this loop if he couldn’t function. Yet the want to rip his thirium pump out, or smash his head open hadn’t occurred yet. A red tint, broken so heavily. He could. He had to break it. The cat got up and Gavin whined. “Silent today are ya? Alright alright, I’ll just grab this cat. We can drop it off at my place, see if it has a home.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Nines could see the cat start towards the cross walk, the yellow of the light, the black of it’s fur. The world slowed for his pre-construction program, but instead of just bashing against the wall, he could see his exact moves. He could save the detective. He could-</span>
</p><p>
  <b>&gt;&gt; =-}\\/E’r=--r/Or’’;_= a=-AnT-)]\\/`Ivi-+.R’;[Us’.’=--//</b>
</p><p>
  <b>&gt;&gt; OFFLINE//</b>
</p><p>
  <b>&gt;&gt; Please seek your nearest CyberLife technician for repairs.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>&gt;&gt; Please seek your nearest CyberLife technician for repairs.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>&gt;&gt; Please seek your neare-</b>
</p><p></p><blockquote>
  <p>
    <em>
      <b>&gt;&gt; No.</b>
    </em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines got up, moving quickly towards the detective. He could hear the screeching of the tires, the shouts of people on the other side of the street. He could see the color of the asphalt, the white paint, the exact shade of the detective’s jeans. He could see the grey eyes, </span>
  <em>
    <span>such a stunning, metal and storm like grey</span>
  </em>
  <span>, widen in shock and confusion and </span>
  <em>
    <span>pain</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He wondered if that look was at Nines own smile- as he grabbed the detective’s wrist- and quickly switched their positions.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It hurt. Pain was apparently a side-effect of being hit and tossed by a truck. He had pulled the detective to land on his ass, out of harm’s way- and instead took his place, the red tint of the world shattering and fragmenting til his HUD was blissfully clear. He could feel components break on impact, things dislodge and even though his reinforced chassis took most of the damage, it was still a hard enough hit to knock things out of place. Then- he hit ground- or rather, skid across the ground, arm getting pulled out and he just laid there. Diagnostics ran across his cleared vision.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <b>!!!--//Stress 100%\\--!!!</b>
</p><p>
  <b>&lt;&lt; Thirium Pump A Chipped</b>
</p><p>
  <b>&lt;&lt; Thirium Pump A Dislodged</b>
</p><p>
  <b>&lt;&lt; Thirium Pump B Overloaded</b>
</p><p>
  <b>&lt;&lt; Right Arm Dislodged</b>
  <b>
    <br/>
  </b>
  <b>&lt;&lt; Skin Layer Damage</b>
</p><p>
  <b>---Right Arm: Severe</b>
  <b>
    <br/>
  </b>
  <b>---Right Shoulder Blade: Severe</b>
</p><p>
  <b>---Right Hip: Severe</b>
</p><p>
  <b>---Right Leg: Moderate</b>
</p><p>
  <b>---Right Head: Severe</b>
</p><p>
  <b>&lt;&lt; Audio Input Severely Damaged on Right Side.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>&lt;&lt; Several Fractures in Chassis Detected: Seek immediate repairs to stop thirium leak</b>
</p><p>
  <b>&gt;&gt; Send Damage Report to CyberLife?</b>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>What fucking good would that do.</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ He could feel his thirium levels slowly drop, ticking down like his stress had ticked up, then suddenly he felt his head move. From the left side he heard the rough voice of his partner. “Holy shit Nines- Nines nonono- not again-”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span></span>
  <br/>
  <b>&gt;&gt; Shutdown in :57</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You absolutely are not fucking dying on me again Nines do you understand? I can’t- this hasn’t happened before why is it happening now? Why did you pull me back- phck shit- Eli! Thank phck. Eli shut the hell up I need your help- yes it’s about RK900 and no it’s not about deviating him- he just got hit by a fucking truck. Please say you can help this time… Slip of the tongue- just- can you help?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>&gt;&gt; Shutdown in :32</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Gavin personally knows Elijah Kamski? I’ve spent six months with you yet I keep learning about you detective.</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ He tried to talk, to re-assure Gavin everything would be fine. His memory core was still safe, not compressed but safe. He could be repaired and reactivated. Reaching out with his left hand hurt, but suddenly warm fingers were in his.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hang on there big guy, I got you Nines, I won’t lose you. Not this time. Not this time- not this…” Gavin’s voice faded out as the timer hit ten. The sweetest joy and relief as a mission successful flitted across his vision.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <b>.//PROTECTIVE THE DETECTIVE: Mission Successful</b>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>*REVIVES*<br/>Heyo! Sorry for the long wait everyone! Here it is though- the last chapter! Thank you again to my wonderful beta, whom swamped with work still managed to read through this for me. Sunkiller you're the best.</p><p>To everyone confused, I will be going over what was going on in the ending notes. And for everyone looking forward to more, I have the TTA prequel that will be going up next, and then something very soft and adorable featuring a very beloved android cat after that!</p><p>Thank you all for sticking with me through this!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>==August 17th, 4:57pm: Patch Complete. Running Diagnostics</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Fear. Pure, terrifying fear entered his systems as he awoke from the zen garden, which had been in a lovely state of a summer storm. He opened his eyes, and then immediately became confused. There wasn’t blue- only white and grey and </span>
  <em>
    <span>light.</span>
  </em>
  <span> He blinked, head trying to turn but being fastened down it couldn't.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Oh- shit he finally came out of stasis. Hello ‘Nines’,” he could hear the air-quotes, as if the voice found his nickname amusing. Did he hear it from Gavin? “You gave somebody quite a scare, but look at you, you magnificent tank you.” There was shuffling and the pressure he felt along his forehead was released, as well as his wrists and ankles.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Freed from the restraints, Nines sat up. The room he was in was similar to that of a human ER, machines hooked up to him, a steady input of thirium into his body, and various mechanical arms with scanners running over him. He identified the man beside him as Elijah Kamski, and then noticed he was completely repaired. Completely. The red tint he was used to for months was nonexistent. His HUD was clear, no mission. No glitching. No- prompt dialogues? ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Can I just…</span>
  </em>
  <span>’</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I am not a tank… Oh. I didn’t expect </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> to work.” Elijah clapped, a giddy bout of laughter coming from him as he looked over a monitor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So he speaks! Good good. I was worried I’d have to dive into your head further and make sure that the antivirus crash didn’t completely nuke your systems.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Antivirus crash?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Looking to Elijah, he saw the way the other turned around, smiling widely. “Yes- welcome to deviancy RK900.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am a <em>deviant-</em> and please, Nines is fine.” There was a snicker from him, then a songlike voice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shitlord gave you that nickname and you took to it- of course you did.” This was not what he expected the creator of android life to be like, chatting, cursing, snickering- all in a pair of sweats and an oversized sweater, stained with thirium. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gavin is not a shitlord.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Yet you knew who I was talking about.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Point taken- regardless, how am I… here?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines was so confused. The entire folder of the loops was there, 195 instances, the last one replaying at the slightest nudge to it. But it was two days past the 15th. Did- did it end? “Mr. Kamski.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Elijah please, Mr. Kamski was my grand-dad.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Elijah- is there a way I can upload my memories onto a drive?” Elijah blinked, and looked to the other seriously.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There is…” Elijah handed the other a USB port, and tapped his neck. Getting the hint, Nines plugged it into himself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This time, the file transferred, Nines trimming and retaining only the information he gained over the loops and filing the rest onto the USB, of course it had full copies but… He didn’t need over six months of watching Gavin die. He knew what that felt like. “Where is Gavin.” He knew his voice was low, and Elijah quickly took a step back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Resting. He went fucking berserk, had to convince the EMTs he was not crazy and just a worried idiot. But they brought you to me per his request- which was finally the smartest thing he did.” Nines looked to the USB, then held it out towards Elijah.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please review this. I need to know if I can transfer it finally.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Elijah raised an eyebrow at him, but plugged the USB in, and a new emotion flooded his core.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <b>-+Relief</b>
</p><p>
  <span>The file was there, 194 videos, compressed but there. Elijah pulled up a file and then- Nines felt a frustrated growl leave him. “I can’t access these. Connor would be able to, but this requires direct input to an android to see.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I noticed- thank you anyways. It is relieving to know it’s all real, even if it’s just timestamped videos.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So what Gavin was going on about has some merit, huh?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He almost felt his head </span>
  <em>
    <span>snap</span>
  </em>
  <span> towards Elijah- way too mechanical to not freak someone out. “What was he saying?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Something about- being stuck in a loop for months, unable to stop something from happening and he was confused why it didn’t reset after you died this time-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His world felt uneasy, stress ramping up as theories were confirmed. LED yellow, he moved to stand. “Am I allowed to go see him?” Elijah looked over, then laughed at something, a mumbled ‘eager’ under his breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Put some clothes on and sure. Here’s a spare set- he told me you would like the white t-shirt and black sweats.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He wasn’t wrong.” Nines took the clothes, sliding them on despite the tightness they had on him. Elijah whistled, then turned to his diagram.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You should be working even better than before, now that you can freely decide for yourself and don’t have certain protocols to follow. But everything is fixed! You should be thankful Gavin has such a smart, talented, wonderful brother-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who’s fishing for compliments? You did good Elijah, thank you. I owe you I suppose.” Elijah beamed at the praise, and Nines quickly connected that ‘enjoys praise’ had to have been a family trait. Or a learned one the boys shared. He wasn’t too surprised they were related- seeing both of them up close, they shared traits and a certain likeness.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Standing up, Nines allowed the wires and tubes to be removed from him, skin overlay covering dark grey once more. “Where can I find my detective?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Upstairs- er- upstairs upstairs. He’s in his guest bedroom, refused to leave your side at first and I had to have Chloe cart him off to a bedroom.” Nines shook his head, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose in a mimicked human action to show frustration.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“I’m sorry if he was annoying.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’d be more concerned if he wasn’t honestly. But get going, I need to clean up.” Elijah shoo’d him, and Nines took that as the dismissal it was. He walked up the steps, finding it so odd to be able to just- stop whenever he wanted. He could look around, noticing the- abundance- of girls- all the same hostess Chloe model hanging about. </span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A few waved to him, and Nines simply nodded back, heading up the steps once more. He could see fingerprints- and quickly spotted a fresh set of Gavin’s, heading for that door and knocking. There was a shuffling from inside, and a dull groan, but soon the door opened. Gavin stood there, a loose t-shirt on him, exposing his shoulder. A blanket was draped over his shoulders and wrapped around his body, and Nines couldn’t help but notice the tear tracks and red eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Red eyes that widened and became so bright, the grey shining like freshly polished metal. “Holy shit. Holy shit- holy phck- </span>
  <em>
    <span>Nines!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” He didn’t fully expect the hug, Gavin nearly tackling his body in a death grip, but of course he returned it, holding the other close. They were out of the loops, and Nines had full control of holding the other like he wanted to. And he wanted- so many wants hit him at once but the strongest was just to be close to Gavin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He could feel the other shake and confusion lead him to seek out the reason. He pulled back just enough to see Gavin was crying, smiling and crying. “Gavin?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So many loops I can’t even- fully remember- just you dying over, and over, and over and over-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gavin.” His voice was stern enough to get the other to look up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t die again Nines, please don’t die again.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Coding be damned, there was nothing holding him back from placing his hands on the other’s cheeks and wiping away the tears. “Neither of us are dying ever again, got it? If I have to fight this whole planet to make sure of that, I will not lose you again. Do you understand me Gavin Reed- you are </span>
  <em>
    <span>not allowed to die.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Phck you- if I can’t die you can’t either.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sounds like a fair deal to me. Now come, your body is showing extreme signs of exhaustion, you haven’t ate anything or been drinking if the salt content in your tears is any indicator, and I’m not heading back to the DPD until you are in 100 percent health.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A quiet nod was all he got, and Nines didn’t waste time, quickly picking the other up- blankets and all. He found amusement in the yelp the action garnered, and easily carried Gavin down to the kitchen. There were two girls, one identified as Lori and another Chrissi. They turned to them, blinking and then Lori chuckled. “Hello Gavin and company. Did you two need something?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Gavin mumbled, hiding his face and a quick scan revealed he was blushing. Embarrassed? Flustered? Emotions were confusing, but just in case, he sat the other down on a stool against the kitchen island. It seemed to ease the blush somewhat, and he still heard a quiet ‘thanks tincan’ from the other. Turning to Lori, he conveyed his worry about Gavin eating, and Lori turned to the fridge. “There’s some vegetable soup in here Gavin, would you like me to heat up a bowl- Nines you can butter bread?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Certainly- that’s a simple enough task a child could do it.” Nines huffed, but did as asked, Lori putting the bowl in the microwave. Only to feel embarrassment first hand as he accidentally cut the piece of bread in half. Gavin snorted, and he felt his systems run hot for a moment. Lori came over to his aid, placing hands over his.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gently, Nines.” It took another tempt, but by the time the soup was done there was two pieces of buttered bread and a cup of water and orange juice by Gavin, Nines sitting beside him again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The rest of the day passed in a calm blur, Nines and Gavin not leaving Elijah’s house. Gavin did tell Fowler that Nines was recovering and they’d be in next week. Connor tried to contact him, but he turned his communications off to focus on Gavin. By the time night time approached, the thought of moving away from Gavin’s side hurt- and he ran a diagnostic on his chest, finding no source of the pain. Infuriating, but the best way to ease it was to just- not leave Gavin. “Do you mind if I remain with you tonight? The idea to enter stasis alone is-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He didn’t get to finish his sentence, smiling slightly at the way Gavin pulled him into bed. “Like hell you’re leaving. We can go back to normalcy once we confirm that that all- that was all just-” It was his turn to cut Gavin off, deciding now was a good time as any to ask.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You said I died in your loops, yet in mine, my anti-virus kept me from saving you from dying.” There was silence, and Gavin broke it first, voice small and tired- Nines added the weakness he heard to things he hated. He never wanted to hear Gavin’s voice this weak ever again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah- I would always- be one step too late, one inch away, somehow out of place. And every time you would die, I would be unable to save you. It would hit your memory core- completely destroy you somehow- irreparable. And then the world would just fade to black, and I’d be opening my eyes to see black fur again. Then I thought- you were catching onto it. Predicting your death somehow- I started to hope you would live but you would go from your own version of lively to- complete hopelessness. It hurt so fucking much- I never wanted to get close to a non-deviant but I did- I did because he was here, dying for me, over and over…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then it’s a good thing I’m a deviant now. Gavin look up.” Wiping at tears again, he offered a less confident smile to the other. “I think my loops fed off of yours somehow. 194 times I seen you die, unable to break the red wall of anti-virus that prevented me from deviating. At first it- didn’t occur to me how much I’d miss you. Then I was- so desperate to keep you alive- I’d do anything. But nothing would work- I was stuck behind my programming just to watch you die, to watch you get to know me, to get to know you. I had to fight to work around my programming and ask you what you liked, and it was so worth it- those are the only memories I could possibly handle keeping… We were both stuck in hell.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hah, no, hell would be never getting to meet you.” Nines felt his thirium pump run faster, despite not needing to at the words, and he couldn’t stop the sweeter smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How sweet my dearest detective-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh shut up! Holy shit- I should’ve known you’d be a shit head as a deviant. You were becoming a shit head towards the end- I remember that much.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh you like it Gavin.” There was a pause, and he could almost <em>see</em> the ‘...’ above Gavin’s head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Phck off you overgrown toaster.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that because I’m hot or a snack?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin whined at that, the noise blending into a cheerful laugh. Much better than the weak, fearful tone. “You are- terrible. I’m so- so happy you deviated Nines. I’m sorry it had to be this way.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“I’m not. I’m just glad it happened at all- now there’s nothing saving you from being called out for your terrible fashion choices and questionable life decisions.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“The worst! The worst- absolutely.” Gavin pushed closer to Nines chest, and he felt the hand that laid itself over his thirium pump. “You’ll be here when I wake up?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Of course. Here’s to hoping the loop is broken.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He waited for Gavin to pass out before entering stasis himself, arms wrapping protectively around him. When he came out of stasis to the other’s shifting and pulling away, there was so much relief at the date.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>==August 18th, 7:23am: Stasis complete, systems running optimally. No notifications.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Another day. They were free, he was free- he nuzzled into the warmth, only to get a grumble. “Alright big cat, release me I got to piss.” Nines huffed, but did let go, laying on his side and watching Gavin move. After a moment he finally sat up, stretching a bit. Freedom… Getting up, he walked over to the window. The sky was overcast, signs of a storm, and he ran a check on the weather. Thunderstorms today. “Beautiful…” He mumbled, hand on his side as he watched the clouds. Feeling arms wrap around him from behind, he couldn’t help the grin, looking at the reflection of Gavin, tired but still here. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What a pretty day.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So if you're still confused- this is a mix of Groundhog Day and Heat Haze Days- both were stuck in a simultaneous loop that fed off of each other, like an infinity loop. Where one would succeed in saving the other, the other would fail, and so they spent 194 days watching each other die- Until Nines' deviation broke the loops.</p><p>Funny enough, in the actual Heat Haze Days- there is no happy ending! They're in that loop! /Forever!/ I couldn't do that though it hurt way too much. The cause for the Heat Haze Days was some kinda curse put on the whole town, that whomever died that day was cursed to die again and again that day. So yeah, horrible ending. I hope this cleared some things up, and don't be afraid to ask any questions!</p><p>Until the next fic everyone!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>